On 1 April 1940, Maathai was born in the village of Ihithe, Nyeri District, in the central highlands of the colony of Kenya. Her family was Kikuyu, the most populous ethnic group in Kenya, and had lived in the area for several generations.[2] Around 1943, Maathai's family relocated to a White-owned farm in the Rift Valley, near the town of Nakuru, where her father had found work.[3] Late in 1947, she returned to Ihithe with her mother, as two of her brothers were attending primary school in the village, and there was no schooling available on the farm where her father worked. Her father remained at the farm.[4] Shortly afterward, at the age of eight, she joined her brothers at Ihithe Primary School.

At age eleven, Maathai moved to St. Cecilia's Intermediate Primary School, a boarding school at the Mathari Catholic Mission in Nyeri.[5] Maathai studied at St. Cecilia's for four years. During this time, she became fluent in English and converted to Catholicism. She was involved with the Legion of Mary, whose members attempted "to serve God by serving fellow human beings."[6] Studying at St. Cecilia's, she was sheltered from the ongoing Mau Mau uprising, which forced her mother to move from their homestead to an emergency village in Ihithe.[7] When she completed her studies there in 1956, she was rated first in her class, and was granted admission to the only Catholic high school for girls in Kenya, Loreto High School in Limuru.[8]

Nothing is more beautiful than cultivating the land at dusk. At that time of day in the central highlands the air and the soil are cool, the sun is going down, the sunlight is golden against the ridges and the green of trees, and there is usually a breeze. As you remove the weeds and press the earth around the crops you feel content, and wish the light would last longer so you could cultivate more. Earth and water, air and waning fire of the sun combine to form the essential elements of life and reveal to me my kinship with the soil. When I was a child I sometimes became so absorbed working in the fields with my machete that I didn't notice the end of the day until it got so dark that I could no longer differentiate between the weeds and crops. At that point I knew it was time to go home, on the narrow paths that criss crossed the fields and rivers and woodlots.

Upon returning to Kenya, Maathai dropped her forename, preferring to be known by her birth name, Wangarĩ Muta.[15] When she arrived at the university to start her new job, she was informed that it had been given to someone else. Maathai believed this was because of gender and tribal bias.[16] After a two-month job search, Professor Reinhold Hofmann, from the University of Giessen in Germany, offered her a job as a research assistant in the microanatomy section of the newly established Department of Veterinary Anatomy in the School of Veterinary Medicine at University College of Nairobi.[17] In April 1966, she met Mwangi Mathai, another Kenyan who had studied in America, who would later become her husband.[18] She also rented a small shop in the city, and established a general store, at which her sisters worked. In 1967, at the urging of Professor Hofmann, she traveled to the University of Giessen in Germany in pursuit of a doctorate. She studied both at Giessen and the University of Munich.

In the spring of 1969, she returned to Nairobi to continue studies at the University College of Nairobi as an assistant lecturer. In May, she and Mwangi Maathai married.[19] Later that year, she became pregnant with her first child, and her husband campaigned for a seat in Parliament, narrowly losing. During the course of the election, Tom Mboya, who had been instrumental in founding the program which sent her overseas, was assassinated. This led to President Kenyatta effectually ending multi-party democracy in Kenya. Shortly after, her first son, Waweru, was born.[20] In 1971, she became the first Eastern African woman to receive a PhD, her doctorate in veterinary anatomy,[13] from the University College of Nairobi, which became the University of Nairobi the following year. She completed her dissertation on the development and differentiation of gonads in bovines.[21] Her daughter, Wanjira, was born in December 1971.

Maathai continued to teach at Nairobi, becoming a senior lecturer in anatomy in 1975, chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy in 1976 and associate professor in 1977. She was the first woman in Nairobi appointed to any of these positions.[22] During this time, she campaigned for equal benefits for the women working on the staff of the university, going so far as trying to turn the academic staff association of the university into a union, in order to negotiate for benefits. The courts denied this bid, but many of her demands for equal benefits were later met.[23] In addition to her work at the University of Nairobi, Maathai became involved in a number of civic organizations in the early 1970s. She was a member of the Nairobi branch of the Kenya Red Cross Society, becoming its director in 1973. She was a member of the Kenya Association of University Women. Following the establishment of the Environment Liaison Centre in 1974, Maathai was asked to be a member of the local board, eventually becoming board chair. The Environment Liaison Centre worked to promote the participation of non-governmental organizations in the work of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), whose headquarters was established in Nairobi following the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972. Maathai also joined the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK).[24] Through her work at these various volunteer associations, it became evident to Maathai that the root of most of Kenya's problems was environmental degradation.[25]

We hoped that these elections would provide the people of Kenya with a fairer and truer representation of their aspirations and beliefs. To our dismay and despair, however, the elections were the most disturbing and distorted in Kenya's history. The government introduced a highly controversial system of "queue" voting. Voters lined up behind their candidate and election officials counted each line and then told the people to go home. When election officials announced the winner, it was often the candidate with the shortest line of voters behind him! Since the voters were at home, there was nothing that could be done: The winner had been declared. The vote- rigging was so blatant that people who had lost their races were declared the winners in broad daylight with no embarrassment whatsoever on the part of the government…
I knew that we could not live with a political system that killed creativity, nurtured corruption, and produced people who were afraid of their own leaders. It would be only a matter of time before the government and I came in to further conflict…

Wangarĩ Muta Maathai – Unbowed, pp. 182–183.

In 1974, Maathai's family expanded to include her third child, son Muta. Her husband campaigned again for a seat in Parliament, hoping to represent the Lang'ata constituency, and won. During his campaign, he had promised to find jobs to limit the rising unemployment in Kenya. These promises led Maathai to connect her ideas of environmental restoration to providing jobs for the unemployed and led to the founding of Envirocare Ltd., a business that involved the planting of trees to conserve the environment, involving ordinary people in the process. This led to the planting of her first tree nursery, collocated with a government tree nursery in Karura Forest. Envirocare ran into multiple problems, primarily dealing with funding. The project failed. However, through conversations concerning Envirocare and her work at the Environment Liaison Centre, UNEP made it possible to send Maathai to the first UN conference on human settlements, known as Habitat I, in June 1976.[26]

In 1977, Maathai spoke to the NCWK concerning her attendance at Habitat I. She proposed further tree planting, which the council supported. On 5 June 1977, marking World Environment Day, the NCWK marched in a procession from Kenyatta International Conference Centre in downtown Nairobi to Kamukunji Park on the outskirts of the city where they planted seven trees in honor of historical community leaders. This was the first "Green Belt" which was first known as the "Save the Land Harambee" and then became the Green Belt Movement.[27] Maathai encouraged the women of Kenya to plant tree nurseries throughout the country, searching nearby forests for seeds to grow trees native to the area. She agreed to pay the women a small stipend for each seedling which was later planted elsewhere.[28]

In her 2010 book, Replenishing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World, she discussed the impact of the Green Belt Movement, explaining that the group's civic and environmental seminars stressed "the importance of communities taking responsibility for their actions and mobilizing to address their local needs," and adding, "We all need to work hard to make a difference in our neighborhoods, regions, and countries, and in the world as a whole. That means making sure we work hard, collaborate with each other, and make ourselves better agents to change." [29]

Maathai and her husband, Mwangi Mathai, separated in 1977. After a lengthy separation, Mwangi filed for divorce in 1979. Mwangi was said to have believed Wangari was "too strong-minded for a woman" and that he was "unable to control her". In addition to naming her as "cruel" in court filings, he publicly accused her of adultery with another Member of Parliament,[30] which in turn was thought to cause his high blood pressure and the judge ruled in Mwangi's favor. Shortly after the trial, in an interview with Viva magazine, Maathai referred to the judge as either incompetent or corrupt.[30] The interview later led the judge to charge Maathai with contempt of court. She was found guilty and sentenced to six months in jail. After three days in Lang'ata Women's Prison in Nairobi, her lawyer formulated a statement which the court found sufficient for her release. Shortly after the divorce, her former husband sent a letter via his lawyer demanding that Maathai drop his surname. She chose to add an extra "a" instead of changing her name.[31][32]

The divorce had been costly, and with lawyers' fees and the loss of her husband's income, Maathai found it difficult to provide for herself and her children on her university wages. An opportunity arose to work for the Economic Commission for Africa through the United Nations Development Programme. As this job required extended travel throughout Africa and was based primarily in Lusaka, Zambia, she was unable to bring her children with her. Maathai chose to send them to her ex-husband and take the job. While she visited them regularly, they lived with their father until 1985.[33]

In 1979, shortly after the divorce, Maathai ran for the position of chairperson of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK), an umbrella organization consisting of many women's organizations in the country. The newly elected President of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi, tried to limit the amount of influence those of the Kikuyu ethnicity held in the country, including in volunteer civic organizations such as the NCWK. She lost this election by three votes, but was overwhelmingly chosen to be the vice-chairman of the organization. The following year, Maathai again ran for chairman of the NCWK. Again she was opposed, she believes, by the government. When it became apparent that Maathai was going to win the election, Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, a member organization which represented a majority of Kenya's rural women and whose leader was close to Arap Moi, withdrew from the NCWK. Maathai was then elected chairman of the NCWK unopposed. However, Maendeleo Ya Wanawake came to receive a majority of the financial support for women's programs in the country, and NCWK was left virtually bankrupt. Future funding was much more difficult to come by, but the NCWK survived by increasing its focus on the environment and making its presence and work known. Maathai continued to be reelected to serve as chairman of the organization every year until she retired from the position in 1987.[34]

It soon became obvious that politics was at play again. The ruling party didn't want me in Parliament and had figured out a way to stop me from getting there. Once again, I decided to fight by taking the authorities to court and challenging their reason for disqualifying me, which I knew to be completely illegal. The court sat at nine o'clock on a Saturday morning, but I was required to present my candidacy papers by noon that same day in Nyeri, which is nearly a three-hour drive from Nairobi. Seeing that it would be impossible for me to meet the deadline if I drove, some friends had hired a plane to take me to Nyeri as soon as the court rendered its verdict. By the time the Judge made his final ruling, disqualifying me from running for parliament, it was nearly midday. Even with the plane and favorable ruling, I would have arrived in Nyeri too late. My case, like many others, demonstrated a miscarriage of justice that was frequent at that time in Kenya and that led me, later, to be involved in the pro-democracy movement. Once again, I had lost in court. I would not be able to run.

Wangarĩ Muta Maathai – Unbowed, pp. 161.

In 1982, the Parliamentary seat representing her home region of Nyeri was open, and Maathai decided to campaign for the seat. As required by law, she resigned her position with the University of Nairobi to campaign for office. The courts decided that she was ineligible to run for office because she had not re-registered to vote in the last presidential election in 1979. Maathai believed this to be false and illegal, and brought the matter to court. The court was to meet at nine in the morning, and if she received a favorable ruling, was required to present her candidacy papers in Nyeri by three in the afternoon that day. The judge disqualified her from running on a technicality.[clarification needed] When she requested her job back, she was denied. As she lived in university housing and was no longer a staff member, she was evicted.[35]

Maathai moved into a small home she had purchased years before, and focused on the NCWK while she searched for employment. In the course of her work through the NCWK, she was approached by Wilhelm Elsrud, executive director of the Norwegian Forestry Society. He wished to partner with the Green Belt Movement and offered her the position of coordinator. Employed again, Maathai poured her efforts into the Green Belt Movement. Along with the partnership for the Norwegian Forestry Society, the movement had also received "seed money" from the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Women. These funds allowed for the expansion of the movement, for hiring additional employees to oversee the operations, and for continuing to pay a small stipend to the women who planted seedlings throughout the country. It allowed her to refine the operations of the movement, paying a small stipend to the women's husbands and sons who were literate and able to keep accurate records of seedlings planted.[36]

Although I was a highly educated woman, it did not seem odd to me to work with my hands, often with my knees on the ground, alongside rural woman. Some politicians and others in the 1980s and 1990s ridiculed me for doing so. But I had no problem with it, and the rural women both accepted and appreciated that I was working with them to improve their lives and the environment. After all, I was a child of the same soil. Education, if it means anything, should not take people away from land, but instill in them, even more, respect for it, because educated people are in a position to understand what is being lost. The future of the planet concerns all of us, and we should do what we can to protect it. As I told the foresters, and the women, you don't need a diploma to plant a tree.

Wangarĩ Muta Maathai – Unbowed, pp. 137–138.

The UN held the third global women's conference in Nairobi. During the conference, Maathai arranged seminars and presentations to describe the work the Green Belt Movement was doing in Kenya. She escorted delegates to see nurseries and plant trees. She met Peggy Snyder, the head of UNIFEM, and Helvi Sipilä, the first woman appointed a UN assistant secretary general. The conference helped to expand funding for the Green Belt Movement and led to the movement's establishing itself outside Kenya. In 1986, with funding from UNEP, the movement expanded throughout Africa and led to the foundation of the Pan-African Green Belt Network. Forty-five representatives from fifteen African countries travelled to Kenya over the next three years to learn how to set up similar programs in their own countries to combat desertification, deforestation, water crises, and rural hunger. The attention the movement received in the media led to Maathai's being honored with numerous awards. The government of Kenya, however, demanded that the Green Belt Movement separate from the NCWK, believing the latter should focus solely on women's issues, not the environment. Therefore, in 1987, Maathai stepped down as chairman of the NCWK and focused on the newly separate non-governmental organization.[37]

In the latter half of the 1980s, the Kenyan government came down against Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. The single-party regime opposed many of the movement's positions regarding democratic rights. The government invoked a colonial-era law prohibiting groups of more than nine people from meeting without a government license. In 1988, the Green Belt Movement carried out pro-democracy activities such as registering voters for the election and pressing for constitutional reform and freedom of expression. The government carried out electoral fraud in the elections to maintain power, according to Maathai.[38]

In October 1989, Maathai learned of a plan to construct the 60-story Kenya Times Media Trust Complex in Uhuru Park. The complex was intended to house the headquarters of KANU, the Kenya Times newspaper, a trading center, offices, an auditorium, galleries, shopping malls, and parking space for 2,000 cars. The plan also included a large statue of President Daniel Arap Moi. Maathai wrote many letters in protest to, among others, the Kenya Times, the Office of the President, the Nairobi city commission, the provincial commissioner, the minister for environment and natural resources, the executive directors of UNEP and the Environment Liaison Centre International, the executive director of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the ministry of public works, and the permanent secretary in the department of international security and administration all received letters. She wrote to Sir John Johnson, the British high commissioner in Nairobi, urging him to intervene with Robert Maxwell, a major shareholder in the project, equating the construction of a tower in Uhuru Park to such construction in Hyde Park or Central Park and maintaining that it could not be tolerated.[39]

When I see Uhuru Park and contemplate its meaning, I feel compelled to fight for it so that my grandchildren may share that dream and that joy of freedom as they one day walk there.

Wangarĩ Muta Maathai – Unbowed, p. 192.

The government refused to respond to her inquiries and protests, instead responding through the media that Maathai was "a crazy woman"; that denying the project in Uhuru Park would take more than a small portion of public park land; and proclaiming the project as a "fine and magnificent work of architecture" opposed by only the "ignorant few." On 8 November 1989, Parliament expressed outrage at Maathai's actions, complaining of her letters to foreign organizations and calling the Green Belt Movement a bogus organization and its members "a bunch of divorcees". They suggested that if Maathai was so comfortable writing to Europeans, perhaps she should go live in Europe.[40]

Despite Maathai's protests, as well as popular protest growing throughout the city, the ground was broken at Uhuru Park for construction of the complex on 15 November 1989. Maathai sought an injunction in the Kenya High Court to halt construction, but the case was thrown out on 11 December. In his first public comments pertaining to the project, President Daniel Arap Moi stated that those who opposed the project had "insects in their heads". On 12 December, in Uhuru Park, during a speech celebrating independence from the British, President Moi suggested Maathai be a proper woman in the African tradition and respect men and be quiet.[41] She was forced by the government to vacate her office, and the Green Belt Movement was moved into her home. The government then audited the Green Belt Movement in an apparent attempt to shut it down. Despite all this, her protests, the government's response – and the media coverage it garnered – led foreign investors to cancel the project in January 1990.[42][43]

In January 1992, it came to the attention of Maathai and other pro-democracy activists that a list of people were targeted for assassination and that a government-sponsored coup was possible. Maathai's name was on the list. The pro-democracy group, known as the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD), presented its information to the media, calling for a general election. Later that day, Maathai received a warning that one of their members had been arrested. Maathai decided to barricade herself in her home. Shortly thereafter, police arrived and surrounded the house. She was besieged for three days before police cut through the bars she had installed on her windows, came in, and arrested her. She and the other pro-democracy activists who had been arrested were charged with spreading malicious rumors, sedition, and treason. After a day and a half in jail, they were brought to a hearing and released on bail. A variety of international organizations and eight senators (including Al Gore and Edward M. Kennedy) put pressure on the Kenyan government to substantiate the charges against the pro-democracy activists or risk damaging relations with the United States. In November 1992, the Kenyan government dropped the charges.[44]

On 28 February 1992, while released on bail, Maathai and others took part in a hunger strike in a corner of Uhuru Park, which they labeled Freedom Corner, to pressure the government to release political prisoners. After four days of hunger strike, on 3 March 1992, the police forcibly removed the protesters. Maathai and three others were knocked unconscious by police and hospitalized.[45]PresidentDaniel arap Moi called her "a mad woman" and "a threat to the order and security of the country".[46] The attack drew international criticism. The US State Department said it was "deeply concerned" by the violence and by the forcible removal of the hunger strikers.[47] When the prisoners were not released, the protesters – mostly mothers of those in prison – moved their protest to All Saints Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican Archbishop in Kenya, across from Uhuru Park. The protest there continued, with Maathai contributing frequently, until early 1993, when the prisoners were finally released.[48]

During this time, Maathai was recognized with various awards internationally, but the Kenyan government did not appreciate her work. In 1991 she received the Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco and the Hunger Project's Africa Prize for Leadership in London. CNN aired a three-minute segment about the Goldman prize, but when it aired in Kenya, that segment was cut out. In June 1992, during the long protest at Uhuru Park, both Maathai and President arap Moi travelled to Rio de Janeiro for the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit). The Kenyan government accused Maathai of inciting women and encouraging them to strip at Freedom Corner, urging that she not be allowed to speak at the summit. Despite this, Maathai was chosen to be a chief spokesperson at the summit.[49]

During the first multi-party election of Kenya, in 1992, Maathai strove to unite the opposition and for fair elections in Kenya. The Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) had fractured into FORD-Kenya (led by Oginga Odinga) and FORD-Asili (led by Kenneth Matiba); former vice presidentMwai Kibaki had left the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) party, and formed the Democratic Party. Maathai and many others believed such a fractured opposition would lead to KANU's retaining control of the country, so they formed the Middle Ground Group in an effort to unite the opposition. Maathai was chosen to serve as its chairperson. Also during the election, Maathai and like-minded opposition members formed the Movement for Free and Fair Elections. Despite their efforts, the opposition did not unite, and the ruling KANU party used intimidation and state-held media to win the election, retaining control of parliament.[50]

It is often difficult to describe to those who live in a free society what life is like in an authoritarian regime. You don't know who to trust. You worry that you, your family, or your friends will be arrested and jailed without due process. The fear of political violence or death, whether through direct assassinations or targeted "accidents", is constant. Such was the case in Kenya, especially during the 1990s.

Wangarĩ Muta Maathai – Unbowed, p. 206.

The following year, ethnic clashes occurred throughout Kenya. Maathai believed they were incited by the government, who had warned of stark consequences to multi-party democracy. Maathai travelled with friends and the press to areas of violence in order to encourage them to cease fighting. With the Green Belt Movement she planted "trees of peace", but before long her actions were opposed by the government. The conflict areas were labeled as "no go zones", and in February 1993 the president claimed that Maathai had masterminded a distribution of leaflets inciting Kikuyus to attack Kalenjins. After her friend and supporter Dr. Makanga was kidnapped, Maathai chose to go into hiding. While in hiding, Maathai was invited to a meeting in Tokyo of the Green Cross International, an environmental organization recently founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. When Maathai responded that she could not attend as she did not believe the government would allow her to leave the country and she was in hiding, Gorbachev pressured the government of Kenya to allow her to travel freely. President arap Moi denied limiting her travel, and she was allowed to leave the country, although too late for the meeting in Tokyo. Maathai was again recognized internationally, and she flew to Scotland to receive the Edinburgh Medal in April 1993. In May she went to Chicago to receive the Jane Addams International Women's Leadership Award, and in June she attended the UN's World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna.[51]

During the elections of 1997, Maathai again wished to unite the opposition in order to defeat the ruling party. In November, less than two months before the election, she decided to run for parliament and for president as a candidate of the Liberal Party. Her intentions were widely questioned in the press; many believed she should simply stick to running the Green Belt Movement and stay out of politics. On the day of the election, a rumour that Maathai had withdrawn from the election and endorsed another candidate was printed in the media. Maathai garnered few votes and lost the election.[52]

In the summer of 1998, Maathai learned of a government plan to privatize large areas of public land in the Karura Forest, just outside Nairobi, and give it to political supporters. Maathai protested this through letters to the government and the press. She went with the Green Belt Movement to Karura Forest, planting trees and protesting the destruction of the forest. On 8 January 1999, a group of protesters including Maathai, six opposition MPs, journalists, international observers, and Green Belt members and supporters returned to the forest to plant a tree in protest. The entry to the forest was guarded by a large group of men. When she tried to plant a tree in an area that had been designated to be cleared for a golf course, the group was attacked. Many of the protesters were injured, including Maathai, four MPs, some of the journalists, and German environmentalists. When she reported the attack to the police, they refused to return with her to the forest to arrest her attackers. However, the attack had been filmed by Maathai's supporters, and the event provoked international outrage.[42][53] Student protests broke out throughout Nairobi, and some of these groups were violently broken up by the police. Protests continued until 16 August 1999, when the president announced that he was banning all allocation of public land.[54]

In 2001, the government again planned to take public forest land and give it to its supporters. While protesting this and collecting petition signatures on 7 March 2001, in Wang'uru village near Mount Kenya, Maathai was again arrested. The following day, following international and popular protest at her arrest, she was released without being charged. On 7 July 2001, shortly after planting trees at Freedom Corner in Uhuru Park in Nairobi to commemorate Saba Saba Day, Maathai was again arrested. Later that evening, she was again released without being charged.[55] In January 2002, Maathai returned to teaching as the Dorothy McCluskey Visiting Fellow for Conservation at the Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She remained there until June 2002, teaching a course on sustainable development focused on the work of the Green Belt Movement.[56]

Wangarĩ Maathai was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her "contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace".[59] She had received a call from Ole Danbolt Mjos, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on 8 October informing her of the news.[60][61] She became the first African woman, and the first environmentalist, to win the prize.

I was not prepared to learn that I had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; I wonder whether anybody ever is. The news hit me like a thunderbolt. How was I supposed to handle it? How did this happen? How did they find such a person as me? I could hardly believe it .
It was clear now why the Norwegian ambassador had called. "I am being informed that I have won the Nobel Peace Prize," I announced to myself and those around me in the car with a smile as I pulled the cell phone away from my ear and reconnected with my fellow passengers. They knew it was not a joke because happiness was written all over my face. But at the same time, tears steamed from my eyes and onto my cheeks as I turned to them. They, too, were now smiling broadly, some cheering and hugging me as if to both comfort and congratulate me, letting my tears fall on their shoulders and hiding my face from some of my staff, whom they felt shouldn't see me cry. But these were tears of great joy at an extraordinary moment!

Wangarĩ Muta Maathai – Unbowed, p. 291-292.

“

Maathai stood up courageously against the former oppressive regime in Kenya. Her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression—nationally and internationally. She has served as inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights and has especially encouraged women to better their situation.

In a 2004 interview with Time, in response to questions concerning that report, Maathai replied, "I have no idea who created AIDS and whether it is a biological agent or not. But I do know things like that don't come from the moon. I have always thought that it is important to tell people the truth, but I guess there is some truth that must not be too exposed," and when asked what she meant, she continued, "I'm referring to AIDS. I am sure people know where it came from. And I'm quite sure it did not come from the monkeys."[63] In response she issued the following statement:

“

I have warned people against false beliefs and misinformation such as attributing this disease to a curse from God or believing that sleeping with a virgin cures the infection. These prevalent beliefs in my region have led to an upsurge in rape and violence against children. It is within this context, also complicated by the cultural and religious perspective, that I often speak. I have therefore been shocked by the ongoing debate generated by what I am purported to have said. It is therefore critical for me to state that I neither say nor believe that the virus was developed by white people or white powers in order to destroy the African people. Such views are wicked and destructive.[64]

In August 2006, then United States SenatorBarack Obama traveled to Kenya. His father was educated in America through the same program as Maathai. She and the Senator met and planted a tree together in Uhuru Park in Nairobi. Obama called for freedom of the press to be respected, saying, "Press freedom is like tending a garden; it continually has to be nurtured and cultivated. The citizenry has to value it because it's one of those things that can slip away if we're not vigilant." He deplored global ecological losses, singling out President George W. Bush's refusal to join the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its subsidiary, the Kyoto Protocol.[67]

Maathai was defeated in the Party of National Unity's primary elections for its parliamentary candidates in November 2007 and chose to instead run as the candidate of a smaller party.[68] She was defeated in the December 2007 parliamentary election. She called for a recount of votes in the presidential election (officially won by Mwai Kibaki, but disputed by the opposition) in her constituency, saying that both sides should feel the outcome was fair and that there were indications of fraud.[69]

In June 2009, Maathai was named as one of PeaceByPeace.com's first peace heroes.[70] Until her death in 2011, Maathai served on the Eminent Advisory Board[71] of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA).

Wangarĩ Maathai died on 25 September 2011 of complications arising from ovarian cancer while receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital.[72]

In 2012, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests CPF, an international consortium of 14 organizations, secretariats and institutions working on international forest issues, launched the inaugural Wangarĩ Maathai Forest Champion Award. The 2012 inaugural winner of the Award was Narayan Kaji Shrestha.[73]

The 2017 award was presented at the 4th Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) in Bonn, Germany, 19–20 December 2017 to Maria Margarida Ribeiro da Silva. Maria Margarida Ribeiro da Silva, a Brazilian forestry activist, was awarded the Wangarĩ Maathai Forest Champion Award for her achievements in promoting community forest management and improving the quality of life for many Amazonian communities. In addition to being awarded the 2017 Wangarĩ Maathai Forest Champion Award, Ribiero da Silva also received a cash prize of $20,000 USD.[77]

In 2012, Wangarĩ Gardens opened in Washington, DC.[78] Wangarĩ Gardens is 2.7 acre community garden project for local residents which consists of over 55 garden allotments. This community garden honours the legacy of Wangarĩ Maathai and her mission for community engagement and environmental protection. The Wangarĩ Gardens consist of a community garden, youth garden, outdoor classroom, pollinator hive and public fruit tree orchard, vegetable garden, herb garden, berry garden and strawberry patch. Within the garden complex there are personal garden plots and public gardens. The personal plots are available to residents living within 1.5 miles of the community garden. Personal plot holders are required to contribute 1 hour monthly to the maintenance of the public gardens. The public gardens and orchard are maintained by plot holders and volunteers, and are open to everyone to enjoy and harvest. The Wangarĩ Gardens has no direct affiliation with the Green Belt Movement or the Wangarĩ Maathai Foundation but was inspired by Wangarĩ Maathai and her work and passion for the environment.[79]

On 25 September 2013, the Wangarĩ Maathai Trees and Garden was dedicated on the lawn of the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning.[80] The memorial includes two red maples symbolizing Maathai's "commitment to the environment, her founding of the Green Belt Movement, and her roots in Kenya and in Pittsburgh" and a flower garden planted in a circular shape that representing her "global vision and dedication to the women and children of the world" with an ornamental maple tree in the middle signifying "how one small seed can change the world".[81]

In 2014, at what would have been her 50-year reunion, her Mount St. Scholastica classmates and Benedictine College unveiled a statue of the Nobel laureate at her alma mater's Atchison, Kansas campus.[82]

In October 2016, Forest Road in Nairobi was renamed to Wangarĩ Maathai Road for her efforts to oppose several attempts to degrade forests and public parks through the Green Belt Movement.[83]

1.
Nairobi
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Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. It is famous for having the Nairobi National Park, the only game reserve found within a major city. The city and its surrounding area also form Nairobi County, whose current governor is Evans Kidero, the name Nairobi comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to cool water. The phrase is also the Maasai name of the Nairobi river, however, it is popularly known as the Green City in the Sun, and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs. Nairobi was founded in 1899 by the authorities in British East Africa. The town quickly grew to replace Machakos as the capital of Kenya in 1907, after independence in 1963, Nairobi became the capital of the Republic of Kenya. During Kenyas colonial period, the city became a centre for the coffee, tea. The city lies on the River Athi in the part of the country. With a population of 3.36 million in 2011, Nairobi is the second-largest city by population in the African Great Lakes region after Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. According to the 2009 census, in the area of Nairobi,3,138,295 inhabitants lived within 696 km2. Nairobi is the 14th-largest city in Africa, including the population of its suburbs, the Nairobi Securities Exchange is one of the largest in Africa and the second-oldest exchange on the continent. It is Africas fourth-largest exchange in terms of trading volume, capable of making 10 million trades a day, Nairobi is found within the Greater Nairobi Metropolitan region, which consists of 4 out of 47 counties in Kenya, which generates about 60% of the entire nations wealth. The city was named after a water hole known in Maasai as Enkare Nairobi and it was completely rebuilt in the early 1900s after an outbreak of plague and the burning of the original town. The location of the Nairobi railway camp was due to its central position between Mombasa and Kampala. It was also chosen because its network of rivers could supply the camp with water, however, malaria was a serious problem, leading to at least one attempt to have the town moved. In 1905, Nairobi replaced Mombasa as capital of the British protectorate, as the British occupiers started to explore the region, they started using Nairobi as their first port of call. This prompted the government to build several spectacular grand hotels in the city. The main occupants were British game hunters, Nairobi continued to grow under the British and many British subjects settled within the citys suburbs

2.
University of Pittsburgh
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The University of Pittsburgh is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1787 after the American Revolutionary War, it was founded on the edge of the American frontier as the Pittsburgh Academy and it developed and was renamed as Western University of Pennsylvania by a change to its charter in 1819. For most of its history, Pitt was a private institution, the university also includes four undergraduate schools located at campuses within Western Pennsylvania, Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville. The 132-acre Pittsburgh campus has multiple contributing historic buildings of the Schenley Farms Historic District, most notably its 42-story Gothic revival centerpiece, the university has an annual operating budget of approximately $2 billion, which includes nearly $900 million in research and development expenditures. It is the second-largest non-government employer in the Pittsburgh region behind UPMC, Pitt is ranked among the top public universities in the United States in both domestic and international rankings, and has been listed as a best value in higher education by several publications. Pitt students have access to arts programs throughout the campus and city. Pitts varsity athletic teams, collectively known as the Pittsburgh Panthers, compete in Division I of the NCAA, primarily as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Founded by Hugh Henry Brackenridge as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh is one of the few universities and colleges established in the 18th century in the United States. It is the oldest continuously chartered institution of learning in the U. S. west of the Allegheny Mountains, the school began as a preparatory school, presumably in a log cabin, possibly as early as 1770 in Western Pennsylvania, then a frontier. A brick building was erected in 1790 on the side of Third Street. The small two-story brick building, with a gable facing the alley, within a short period, more advanced education in the area was needed, so in 1819 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amended the schools 1787 charter to confer university status. The school took the name the Western University of Pennsylvania, or WUP, by the 1830s, the university faced severe financial pressure to abandon its traditional liberal education in favor of the state legislatures desire for it to provide more vocational training. The decision to remain committed to liberal education nearly killed the university and it was also during this era that the founder of Mellon Bank, Thomas Mellon, graduated and later taught at WUP. The universitys buildings, along with most of its records and files, were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1845 that wiped out 20 square blocks of Pittsburgh, classes were temporarily held in Trinity Church until a new building was constructed on Duquesne Way. Only four years later, in 1849, this also was destroyed by fire. Due to the nature of these fires, operations were suspended for a few years to allow the university time to regroup. By 1854, WUP had erected a new building on the corner of Ross and Diamond streets, langley was professor of astronomy and physics and remained at WUP until 1891, when he was succeeded by another prominent astronomer, James Keeler. Growing quickly during this period, WUP outgrew its downtown facilities, the university eventually found itself on a 10-acre site on the North Sides Observatory Hill at the location of its Allegheny Observatory

3.
Nobel Peace Prize
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Per Alfred Nobels will, the recipient is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway. Since 1990, the prize is awarded on 10 December in Oslo City Hall each year, the prize was formerly awarded in the Atrium of the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and the Parliament. Due to its nature, the Nobel Peace Prize has, for most of its history. Alfred Nobels will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five chosen by the Norwegian Parliament. Nobel died in 1896 and he did not leave an explanation for choosing peace as a prize category, as he was a trained chemical engineer, the categories for chemistry and physics were obvious choices. The reasoning behind the peace prize is less clear, some Nobel scholars suggest it was Nobels way to compensate for developing destructive forces. His inventions included dynamite and ballistite, both of which were used violently during his lifetime, ballistite was used in war and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an Irish nationalist organization, carried out dynamite attacks in the 1880s. Nobel was also instrumental in turning Bofors from an iron and steel producer into an armaments company and it is unclear why Nobel wished the Peace Prize to be administered in Norway, which was ruled in union with Sweden at the time of Nobels death. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Nobel may have considered Norway better suited to awarding the prize, the Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites qualified people to submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, the statutes of the Nobel Foundation specify categories of individuals who are eligible to make nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nominations by committee members can be submitted up to the date of the first Committee meeting after this deadline. In 2009, a record 205 nominations were received, but the record was again in 2010 with 237 nominations, in 2011. Nominations from 1901 to 1956, however, have released in a database. Nominations are considered by the Nobel Committee at a meeting where a short list of candidates for review is created. Advisers usually have some months to complete reports, which are considered by the Committee to select the laureate. The Committee seeks to achieve a decision, but this is not always possible. The Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the Nobel Peace Prize in the presence of the King of Norway on 10 December each year, the Peace Prize is the only Nobel Prize not presented in Stockholm. The Nobel laureate receives a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the prize amount, as of 2013, the prize was worth 10 million SEK

4.
Indira Gandhi Prize
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The prize carries a cash award of 2.5 million Indian rupees and a citation. A written work, in order to be eligible for consideration, the panel constituted by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust consists of prominent national and international personalities including previous recipients. The recipients are chosen from a pool of national and international nominees

5.
Natural environment
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The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some part of Earth and this environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather, and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. Even acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a system in the desert. Though many animals build things to provide an environment for themselves, they are not human, hence beaver dams. People seldom find absolutely natural environments on Earth, and naturalness usually varies in a continuum, more precisely, we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment, and see that their degree of naturalness is not uniform. If, for instance, in a field, the mineralogic composition and the structure of its soil are similar to those of an undisturbed forest soil. Natural environment is used as a synonym for habitat. For instance, when we say that the environment of giraffes is the savanna. Earth science generally recognizes 4 spheres, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere as correspondent to rocks, water, air, and life respectively. Some scientists include, as part of the spheres of the Earth, Earth science, is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. There are four major disciplines in sciences, namely geography, geology, geophysics. These major disciplines use physics, chemistry, biology, chronology, the Earths crust, or lithosphere, is the outermost solid surface of the planet and is chemically and mechanically different from underlying mantle. It has been generated greatly by igneous processes in which magma cools, beneath the lithosphere lies the mantle which is heated by the decay of radioactive elements. The mantle though solid is in a state of rheic convection and this convection process causes the lithospheric plates to move, albeit slowly. The resulting process is known as plate tectonics, volcanoes result primarily from the melting of subducted crust material or of rising mantle at mid-ocean ridges and mantle plumes. An ocean is a body of saline water, and a component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earths surface is covered by ocean, a body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans. More than half of area is over 3,000 meters deep

6.
Environmental protection
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Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the natural environment on individual, organisation controlled or governmental levels, for the benefit of both the environment and humans. Due to the pressures of over consumption, population and technology and this has been recognized, and governments have begun placing restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation. Since the 1960s, activity of environmental movements has created awareness of the environmental issues. There is no agreement on the extent of the impact of human activity and even scientific dishonesty occurs. For instance, in India, Environment Improvement Trust has been working for environment & forest protection since 1998, a group of Green Volunteers get a goal of Green India Clean India concept. CA Gajendra Kumar Jain an Chartered Accountant is founder of Environment Improvement Trust in Sojat city a small village of State of Rajasthan in India, in developing countries, such as throughout Latin America, these agreements are more commonly used to remedy significant levels of non-compliance with mandatory regulation. The challenges that exist with these agreements lie in establishing baseline data, targets, due to the difficulties inherent in evaluating effectiveness, their use is often questioned and, indeed, the whole environment may well be adversely affected as a result. The key advantage of their use in developing countries is that their use helps to build environmental management capacity and this approach ideally supports a better exchange of information, development of conflict-resolution strategies and improved regional conservation. Many of the resources are especially vulnerable because they are influenced by human impacts across many countries. As a result of this, many attempts are made by countries to develop agreements that are signed by multiple governments to prevent damage or manage the impacts of human activity on natural resources. This can include agreements that impact factors such as climate, oceans, rivers and these agreements have a long history with some multinational agreements being in place from as early as 1910 in Europe, America and Africa. Some of the most well-known international agreements include the Kyoto Protocol, discussion concerning environmental protection often focuses on the role of government, legislation, and law enforcement. However, in its broadest sense, environmental protection may be seen to be the responsibility of all the people, decisions that impact the environment will ideally involve a broad range of stakeholders including industry, indigenous groups, environmental group and community representatives. Gradually, environmental decision-making processes are evolving to reflect this broad base of stakeholders and are becoming more collaborative in many countries, many constitutions acknowledge the fundamental right to environmental protection and many international treaties acknowledge the right to live in a healthy environment. Also, many countries have organizations and agencies devoted to environmental protection, there are international environmental protection organizations, such as the United Nations Environment Programme. Tanzania is recognised as having some of the greatest biodiversity of any African country, almost 40% of the land has been established into a network of protected areas, including several national parks. In year 1948, Serengeti was officially established as the first national park for wild cats in East Africa, in 1998 Environment Improvement Trust start working for environment & forest protection in India from a small city Sojat. Founder of Environment Improvement Trust is CA Gajendra Kumar Jain working with volunteers, division of the biosphere is the main government body that oversees protection

7.
Women's rights
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In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others they are ignored and suppressed. They differ from broader notions of rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men. Although males seem to have dominated in many cultures, there are some exceptions, for example, in the Nigerian Aka culture women may hunt, even on their own, and often control distribution of resources. Ancient Egypt had female rulers, such as Cleopatra, Women throughout historical and ancient China were considered inferior and had subordinate legal status based on the Confucian law. In Imperial China, the Three Obediences promoted daughters to obey their fathers, wives to obey their husbands, Women could not inherit businesses or wealth and men had to adopt a son for such financial purposes. Late imperial law also featured seven different types of divorces, the status of women in China was also low largely due to the custom of foot binding. About 45% of Chinese women had bound feet in the 19th century, for the upper classes, it was almost 100%. In 1912, the Chinese government ordered the cessation of foot-binding, foot-binding involved alteration of the bone structure so that the feet were only about 4 inches long. The bound feet caused difficulty of movement, thus limiting the activities of women. Due to the custom that men and women should not be near each other. This resulted in a tremendous need for doctors of Western Medicine in China. Thus, female medical missionary Dr. Mary H. Fulton was sent by the Foreign Missions Board of the Presbyterian Church to found the first medical college for women in China. Known as the Hackett Medical College for Women, this College was located in Guangzhou, China, the College was aimed at the spreading of Christianity and modern medicine and the elevation of Chinese womens social status. During the Republic of China and earlier Chinese governments, women were legally bought and these women were known as Mui Tsai. The lives of Mui Tsai were recorded by American feminist Agnes Smedley in her book Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution. However, in 1949 the Republic of China had been overthrown by communist guerillas led by Mao Zedong, in May 1950 the Peoples Republic of China enacted the New Marriage Law to tackle the sale of women into slavery. This outlawed marriage by proxy and made legal so long as both partners consent. The New Marriage Law raised the age of marriage to 20 for men and 18 for women

8.
Sustainable development
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The desirable end result is a state of society where living conditions and resource use continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural systems. As the concept developed, it has shifted to more on economic development, social development. The concept of development has been — and still is — subject to criticism. What, exactly, is to be sustained in sustainable development, Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced by humanity. Sustainability science is the study of the concepts of sustainable development, there is an additional focus on the present generations responsibility to regenerate, maintain and improve planetary resources for use by future generations. Sustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management which were developed in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1713 Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a mining administrator in the service of Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony published Sylvicultura oeconomica. Building upon the ideas of Evelyn and French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his work influenced others, including Alexander von Humboldt and Georg Ludwig Hartig, eventually leading to the development of a science of forestry. Two years later, the United Nations World Charter for Nature raised five principles of conservation by which human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged. In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released the report Our Common Future, the report included what is now one of the most widely recognised definitions of sustainable development. In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development published the Earth Charter, which outlines the building of a just, sustainable and it emphasises that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasises that broad public participation in making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. Broadly defined, sustainable development is an approach to growth and development and to manage natural, produced. A2013 study concluded that sustainability reporting should be reframed through the lens of four interconnected domains, ecology, economics, politics, the goals are to be implemented and achieved in every country from the year 2016 to 2030. Sustainable development, or sustainability, has described in terms of three spheres, dimensions, domains or pillars, i. e. the environment, the economy. The three-sphere framework was proposed by the economist René Passet in 1979. It has also been worded as economic, environmental and social or ecology, economy and this has been expanded by some authors to include a fourth pillar of culture, institutions or governance. The ecological stability of human settlements is part of the relationship between humans and their natural, social and built environments, also termed human ecology, this broadens the focus of sustainable development to include the domain of human health

9.
Natural resource
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Natural resources are resources that exist without actions of humankind. This includes all valued characteristics such as magnetic, gravitational, on earth it includes, sunlight, atmosphere, water, land along with all vegetation and animal life that naturally subsists upon or within the heretofore identified characteristics and substances. Particular areas such as the rainforest in Fatu-Hiva are often characterized by the biodiversity and geodiversity existent in their ecosystems, Natural resources may be further classified in different ways. Natural resources are materials and components that can be found within the environment, every man-made product is composed of natural resources. Some natural resources such as sunlight and air can be found everywhere, however, most resources only occur in small sporadic areas, and are referred to as localised resources. There are very few resources that are considered inexhaustible – these are solar radiation, geothermal energy, the vast majority of resources are theoretically exhaustible, which means they have a finite quantity and can be depleted if managed improperly. There are various methods of categorizing natural resources, these include source of origin, stage of development, fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they are formed from decayed organic matter. Abiotic – Abiotic resources are those that come from non-living, non-organic material, examples of abiotic resources include land, fresh water, air and heavy metals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver, etc. For example, petroleum occurs with sedimentary rocks in various regions, Actual resources — Actual resources are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and are being used in present times. The development of a resource, such as wood processing depends upon the technology available. Reserve resources — The part of a resource which can be developed profitably in the future is called a reserve resource. Stock resources — Stock resources are those that have been surveyed, renewability is a very popular topic and many natural resources can be categorized as either renewable or non-renewable, Renewable resources — Renewable resources can be replenished naturally. Some of these resources, like sunlight, air, wind, water, etc. are continuously available, though many renewable resources do not have such a rapid recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion by over-use. Non-renewable resources – Non-renewable resources either form slowly or do not naturally form in the environment, minerals are the most common resource included in this category. Some resources actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference, the most notable of these being radio-active elements such as uranium, of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them, but coal and petroleum cannot be recycled. Once they are used they take millions of years to replenish. Resource extraction involves any activity that withdraws resources from nature and this can range in scale from the traditional use of preindustrial societies, to global industry. Extractive industries are, along with agriculture, the basis of the sector of the economy

10.
Mwai Kibaki
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Mwai Kibaki, C. G. H. is a Kenyan politician who was the third President of Kenya, serving from December 2002 until April 2013. Kibaki was previously Vice-President of Kenya for ten years from 1978 to 1988 under President Daniel arap Moi. He also held ministerial positions in the Kenyatta and Moi governments, including time as minister for Finance under Kenyatta. Kibaki served as an opposition Member of Parliament from 1992 to 2002 and he unsuccessfully stood as a presidential candidate in 1992 and 1997. He served as the Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament from 1998 to 2002, in the 2002 presidential election, he was elected as President of Kenya. Kibaki was born in 1931 in Kikuyu village, Othaya division of Kenyas then Nyeri District and he is the youngest son of Kikuyu peasants Kibaki Gĩthĩnji and Teresia Wanjikũ. Though baptised as Emilio Stanley by Italian missionaries in his youth, Kibaki turned out to be an exemplary student. He attended Gatuyainĩ School for the first two years, where he completed what was then called Sub A and sub B and he later joined Karima mission school for the three more classes of primary school. After Karima Primary and Nyeri Boarding primary schools, he proceeded to Mangu High School where he studied between 1947 and 1950 and he passed with a maximum of six points in his O level examination by passing six subjects with Grade 1 Distinction. Influenced by the veterans of the First and Second World Wars in his native village, however, a ruling by the Chief colonial secretary, Walter Coutts, which barred the recruitment of the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru communities into the army, put paid to his military aspirations. After his graduation, Kibaki took up an appointment as Assistant Sales Manager Shell Company of East Africa, during the same year, he earned a scholarship entitling him to postgraduate studies in any British University. He consequently enrolled at the prestigious London School of Economics for a B. Sc. in public finance and he went back to Makerere in 1958 where he taught as an Assistant Lecturer in the economics department until 1961. In 1961, Kibaki married Lucy Muthoni, the daughter of a church minister, Kibaki then helped to draft Kenyas independence constitution. In 1963, Kibaki was elected as Member of Parliament for Doonholm Constituency in Nairobi and his election was the start of a long political career. In 1963 Kibaki was appointed the Permanent Secretary for the Treasury, appointed Assistant Minister of Finance and chairman of the Economic Planning Commission in 1963, he was promoted to Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1966. In 1969, he became Minister of Finance and Economic Planning where he served until 1982, in 1974, Kibaki, facing serious competition for his Doonholm Constituency seat from a Mrs. The same year Time magazine rated him among the top 100 people in the world who had the potential to lead and he has been re-elected Member of Parliament for Othaya in the subsequent elections of 1979,1983,1988,1992,1997,2002 and 2007. When Kibaki was the minister of Finance Kenya enjoyed a period of prosperity, fuelled by a commodities boom, especially coffee, with remarkable fiscal discipline

11.
Boarding school
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A boarding school is a school at which most or all of the students live during the part of the year that they go to lessons. The word boarding is used in the sense of bed and board, i. e. lodging, some boarding schools also have day students who attend the institution by day and return to their families in the evenings. Many independent schools are boarding schools, Boarding school pupils normally return home during the school holidays and often weekends, but in some cultures may spend most of their childhood and adolescent life away from their families. In the United States, boarding schools comprise various grades, most commonly grades seven or nine through grade twelve—the high school years, other schools are for younger children, grades two through eight. A military school, or military academy, also features military education, in the former Soviet Union schools were introduced, these sometimes are known as Internat-schools. Some schools were a type of specialized school with a focus in a particular field or fields such as mathematics, physics, language, science, sports. Other schools were associated with orphanages after all children enrolled in Internat-school automatically. Also, separate boarding schools were established for children with special needs, general schools offered extended stay programs featuring cheap meals for children and preventing them from coming home too early before parents were back from work. In post-soviet countries, the concept of boarding school differs from country to country, the term boarding school often refers to classic British boarding schools and many boarding schools around the world are modeled on these. A typical boarding school has separate residential houses, either within the school grounds or in the surrounding area. Pupils generally need permission to go outside defined school bounds, they may be allowed to travel off-campus at certain times, depending on country and context, boarding schools generally offer one or more options, full, weekly, or on a flexible schedule. Each may be assisted in the management of the house by a housekeeper often known as matron. In the U. S. boarding schools often have a resident family that lives in the dorm and they also have janitorial staff for maintenance and housekeeping, but typically do not have tutors associated with an individual dorm. Nevertheless, older pupils are often unsupervised by staff, and a system of monitors or prefects gives limited authority to senior pupils, houses readily develop distinctive characters, and a healthy rivalry between houses is often encouraged in sport. Houses may also have common rooms for television and relaxation and kitchens for snacks, some facilities may be shared between several houses or dorms. In others, separate houses accommodate needs of different years or classes, in some schools, day pupils are assigned to a dorm or house for social activities and sports purposes. Each student has a timetable, which in the early years allows little discretion. Boarders and day students are taught together in school hours and in most cases continue beyond the day to include sports, clubs and societies

12.
Nyeri
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Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County and it is one of the oldest towns in kenya having been established by the British colonialists. The city happens to be the central administrative headquarters of the countrys former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the provinces by Kenyas new constitution on 26 August 2010. The city population, according to the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census, was estimated at 225,357, nyeris city central business district is relatively small as compared to other cities in, for instance Mombasa and Kisumu. While small business activities are vibrant, Nyeri is essentially a government administration city, the city has a relatively low cost of living in comparison to Nairobi and other major urban centers in Kenya. Located in Kenyas fertile highlands, food and water are plentiful, after Meinertzhagens victory, a decision was reached to site a British post close to a little hill on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. The Kikuyu called the hill Kia-Nyiri while their Maasai neighbours called the hill Na-aier, the post took its name from the little hill. On 18 December 1902, Nyeri was founded, shortly the after the establishment of the post, a trickle of European settlers and missionaries and Indian merchants began to migrate into Nyeri and the surrounding areas. The city soon burgeoned into a centre for white settler farmers who produced cattle, wheat. The city became particularly associated with the Happy Valley set in the first half of the twentieth century, the Nyeri Golf Club, The White Rhino Hotel, Outspan Hotel, and the Aberdare Country Club at nearby Mweiga township are relics of those colonial days. The majority of Nyeri residents are members of Kenyas largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu language is widely spoken, along with Kenyas National language, Swahili as well as Kenyas official language, English. Watching TV sports and listening to music, most of Kenyas terrestrial TV and radio channels, transmitting mainly from Nairobi, are available in Nyeri. Most homes have at least one TV and radio, foreign TV channels are also available, either relayed by local channels, or via satellite. Several entertainment spots, hotels and homes have satellite TV in addition to local television, DVDS, mostly counterfeit Hollywood movies imported from Asia, are cheaply and widely available for purchase or rental. Though the depth of belief and dedication to religion varies, most people in Nyeri express belief in God, following the national pattern of Kenya being a predominantly Christian country, Christianity is the main religion. The main Christian denominations are Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, Pentecostals and indigenous denominations, the older residents, who tend to attend the mainstream churches, are invariably more religious than the younger ones. Muslims, traditional African believers and Hindus, in declining order, about 5 km from the city Centre is the Mathari Mission settlement, a complex of several Catholic buildings and institutions, established by Italian missionaries at the beginning of the 20th century. The mission is composed of convents for nuns, schools, a training college

Natural resources are resources that exist without actions of humankind. This includes all valued characteristics such …

The rainforest in Fatu-Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands, is an example of an undisturbed natural resource. Forest provides timber for humans, food and shelter for the flora and fauna. The nutrient cycle between organisms form food chains and biodiversity of species.

The Carson Fall in Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia is an example of undisturbed natural resource. Waterfalls provide spring water for humans, animals and plants for survival and also habitat for marine organisms. The water current can be used to turn turbines for hydroelectric generation.

The ocean is an example of a natural resource. Ocean waves can be used to generate wave power which is a renewable energy. Ocean water is important for salt production, desalination, and providing habitat for deep water fishes. There are biodiversity of marine species in the sea where nutrient cycles are common.

Anderson Hall at Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina, is one of three residential halls at the co-ed college preparatory boarding school for students in grades 9 through 12. Founded in 1900, Asheville School has more than 75% of its students living on campus.